Use of glutamate and/or a glutamate precursor for the preparation of a nutritional or pharmaceutical preparation for the treatment or prevention of hyperpermeability or undesired permeability of the intestinal wall

Abstract

A method for treatment for deterioration of a mucosal barrier, an intestinal dysfunction or injury, suboptimal intestinal wall maturation of new-borns, undernutrition, suboptimal intestinal blood flow, allergy, sepsis, translocation of pathogenic bacteria through an intestinal wall, endotoxaemia, or viral diarrhoea, in which the method includes orally or enterally administering to a patient in need of such treatment an effective amount of an exogenous nutritional preparation consisting essentially of at least one of free glutamic acid and α-keto acid.

1 . Use of glutamate and/or a glutamate precursor for the preparation of a nutritional or pharmaceutical preparation for the treatment or prevention of hyperpermeability or undesired permeability of the intestinal wall.  
   
   
       2 . Use according to  claim 1 , wherein the nutritional preparation is an infant formula or children's food.  
   
   
       3 . Use according to  claim 1  or  2 , wherein the nutritional preparation is an enteral food or a food supplement.  
   
   
       4 . Use according to  claim 1 , wherein the nutritional preparation also contains lactic proteins or hydrolysed lactic proteins.  
   
   
       5 . Use according to  claim 1 , wherein the nutritional preparation also contains vegetable proteins or hydrolysed products thereof.  
   
   
       6 . Use according to  claim 1 , wherein hydrolysed protein is used as the source of glutamate.  
   
   
       7 . Use according to  claim 1 , wherein the glutamate precursor is glutamic acid or alfa-keto glutaric acid.  
   
   
       8 . Use according to  claim 1 , wherein the nutritional preparation also contains glutamine or an equivalent thereof.  
   
   
       9 . Use according to  claim 8 , wherein the weight ratio of glutamic acid:glutamine in the free amino acid fraction is (a) greater than 1:1, (b) greater than 5:1, or (c) greater than 25:1.  
   
   
       10 . Use according to  claim 8 , wherein the preparation further contains one or more polyamines in particular spermine, spermidine or putrescine and/or one or more polyamine precursors, in particular ornithin and arginin.  
   
   
       11 . Use according to  claim 1 , wherein the nutritional preparation contains 0.05-10 g or 0.2-4 g free glutamate per 100 g nutritional preparation (dry weight).  
   
   
       12 . Use according to  claim 1 , wherein the nutritional preparation further contains one or more prebiotics, selected from the group consisting of protein hydrolysates, nucleotides, galacto-oligosaccharides, fructo-oligosaccharides, branched oligosaccharides and sialyloligosaccharides and equivalents thereof.  
   
   
       13 . Use according to  claim 1 , wherein the nutritional preparation contains freeze dried  Lactobacillus Reuteri  as the source of glutamate.  
   
   
       14 . (canceled)  
   
   
       15 . Preparation containing free glutamate and/or a glutamate precursor and polyamines, in particular spermine, spermidine or putrescine and/or one or more polyamine precursors, in particular ornithin and arginin.  
   
   
       16 . A method for treatment for deterioration of a mucosal barrier, an intestinal dysfunction or injury, suboptimal intestinal wall maturation of new-borns, undernutrition, suboptimal intestinal blood flow, allergy, sepsis, translocation of pathogenic bacteria through an intestinal wall, endotoxaemia, or viral diarrhoea, said method comprising orally or enterally administering to a patient in need of said treatment an effective amount of an exogenous nutritional preparation consisting essentially of at least one of free glutamic acid and α-keto acid.  
   
   
       17 . A method for the treatment against hyperpermeability or regarding permeability of the intestinal wall in a person suffering from reduced intestinal glutaminase activity, said method comprising administering to a person in need of said treatment an effective amount of a nutritional preparation comprising at least one of free glutamic acid and α-keto glutaric acid.  
   
   
       18 . A method according to  claim 17 , wherein reduction of phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate induced hyperpermeability that is effected by the preparation is determined by measuring the passage of a permeability probe from the apical side of cells of an epithelial cell line to the basolateral side of said cells.  
   
   
       19 . A method according to  claim 18 , wherein the permeability probe is horseradish peroxidase.  
   
   
       20 . A method according to  claim 18 , wherein the cell line is HT-29CL.19A.